Commentary: As we celebrate All Souls Day today, we are reminded that death is not the end. Today we commemorate all the faithful who have passed on from this earth, and we recognize the great hope we have of resurrection. This first reading reminds us that ?the souls of the just are in the hand of God,? and ?they are in peace.? Those who live a righteous (i.e. just) life can, in fact, have ?immortality? and ?abide with [God] in love? forever. Today, we remember this reality and have hope for our loved ones who have passed away in faith. We also are reminded that heaven is the goal of all our lives. We are called to live a righteous life through trusting and obeying God. If we remain in friendship with God, we can abide with Him forever in heaven. Death is not the end, but truly a beginning. God desires for all of us to be in union with Him for all of eternity. It is up to us to say yes to this call or not. Let us all remember that there is more to life than the here and now. Let us live with eternity in mind, so that we may be among the faithful who will spend eternity with God in heaven. God offers us everything we need to get to heaven, but how will we respond?
Commentary: In this reading, the Apostle Paul also speaks of the hope we have of resurrection and shows how this hope is founded in Jesus Christ. Salvation, in fact, comes through Jesus Christ alone. How? Jesus brings salvation and offers eternal life through his death and resurrection. Jesus? death was the greatest act of love ever. ?God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.? God loves us so much that he died for us. It?s one thing to die for a good person or a good cause, but Jesus died for us ?while we were still sinners.? Because of sin, we do not deserve God?s love, nor do we deserve salvation, but God still loves us and has chosen to bring salvation to us in Jesus Christ. There are consequences for sin and those consequences can be eternal, yet God wants to free us from our sin and offer us reconciliation with Him. He offers us forgiveness of sin so we can have friendship with Him and spend all eternity with Him. God offers us salvation, but will we accept His offer and live accordingly? In Christ, we have the profound hope of heaven.
Commentary: In today?s Gospel, we hear from the lips of Jesus himself the promise of eternal life for those who come to Him. In fact, we see here that this is the purpose of Jesus? coming. The Son, who is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, became man in order to offer salvation to humanity. Jesus came to call all people to Himself and not to lose anyone who the Father wills to be saved. As we heard in the second reading, Jesus brought about salvation through His death on the cross. Jesus died for all and desires for all to be saved. But, we must respond to that gift being offered to us. Jesus said, ?Everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life.? This evidences that the way we respond to the offer of salvation is through faith. In commemorating all the faithful departed today, we are reminded of the key component of faith. We have a great hope for the eternal rest of our loved ones in heaven because of their faith. Faith is not merely a onetime choice, but an ongoing ?yes? to God. Faith is active and obedient. In faith, we choose to follow God and live according to His will. And if we have this faith that is, in fact, a gift from God, we can have the great hope of eternal life with Him forever. So, today, let us be reminded of the reality of heaven and hold great hope for our loved ones who have departed this life in faith. And let us also remember the reality of heaven to which God is inviting us. God desires a relationship with each of us and He wants us to spend all of eternity with Him. Will we respond to His invitation given to us in Christ by living a life of faith? Will we say ?yes? to the call to be with Him for all eternity by living our lives for God here and now? Let us all seek after heaven and hold great hope that it may be attained.
Taking it Home:
Try to imagine what heaven is like. We cannot even begin to fathom how wonderful it will be! Oftentimes we can get caught up in the here and now and lose sight of what happens after we die. Yet, the fact of the matter is that we will all die and all that will matter then is where we spend eternity. The choices we make here and now can affect our eternity. Let us, therefore, live faithfully in friendship with God so we can look forward to life with Him forever in heaven.